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Psychology

Review Essays of Academic, Professional &
Technical Books in the Humanities &
Sciences

Issues in Aging by Mark Novak (Allyn & Bacon) presents
facts and information about aging today. It covers the issues that most older
people and their families will face, and it deals with issues that an aging
society will raise for all of us. Whether you are older yourself, have older
parents, relatives and friends, or plan to work with older people, the
information in this text will help you understand again today. This book first
looks first at large-scale social issues — social attitudes, the study of aging,
and demographic issues. It then shows how these conditions affect individuals
and social institutions. The book concludes with a look at political responses
to aging and how individuals can create a better old age for themselves and the
people they know.

Excerpt: Some years ago I attended a sociology department
meeting to present my first proposal for a course on aging. After some questions
from the committee, the committee chair (a professor of comparative culture)
leaned forward and squinted at me. "I have no objection to you teaching this
course," he said. "You have an interest in the subject and knowledge of the
area. But, tell me, what in the world will you talk about for an entire semester
in a course on aging? People get old, then they die. What else is there to say?"

This colleague wouldn't ask these questions today. Today in
the United States there are more older people in the population than ever
before. Every day newspaper and magazine articles bring us new knowledge about
aging and our aging society. Studies report findings on diet, exercise,
pensions, family life, and housing. Televised reports suggest ways to stay
healthy and live a long life.

Almost everyone knows something about aging today, and the
growth in popular books on this subject suggests that people want to know more.

Issues in aging will grow in importance as more people
enter middle and later life. Most university and college students today will
face these issues in their careers. For example, the Baby Boom generation has
entered middle age and will move like a glacier into old age in the next few
years. This mass of people will want services from professionals who understand
their needs and concerns. Students in gerontology classes, whatever their major
or field of study, will need to know about this aging population.

This book presents facts and information about aging today.
It covers the issues that most older people and their families will face. And it
deals with issues that an aging society will raise for all of us.

Whether you are older yourself; have older parents,
relatives, and friends; or plan to work with older people; the information in
this text will help you understand aging today.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The interaction between personal aging and social
institutions creates many of the issues that older people face. For example, our
bodies age—reaction time slows, chronic diseases develop, and the body tends to
put on weight. These personal changes become issues when society needs to
respond. For example,

Slower reaction time raises the issue of safe driving in
later life. Should we require older people to take a driver's test each year
after a certain age? Should we approve licenses with restrictions on when and
where an older person can drive?

More chronic disease raises the issue of how our health
care system, designed to treat acute illness, cares for older people. Should we
create more long-term care facilities like nursing homes? And if we do, who will
pay for this expensive form of care?

Added weight (around the middle for men and the hips for
women) raises issues related to our North American life-style, diet, and health
promotion practices. Should we invest more money in health promotion programs
for older people? Do physicians need more training in health promotion, diet,
and the wellness needs of older patients?

Issues related to aging go beyond the basic need for health
care. All older people encounter negative stereotyping, minority older people
face low incomes, and changes in the economy force many older workers to retire.
Students need to understand these and other issues. This calls for knowledge
that sorts the myths from the realities of aging.

I have designed this book for easy use and enjoyable
reading. Each chapter presents issues around a single theme—for example,
housing, health care, and income security. I present the facts on that theme,
the issues related to that theme, and creative responses to these issues.

Chapters also include graphs and tables for the display of
complex information. In almost every case, these displays have an accompanying
explanation. I have also tried to give the meaning of new concepts in the text,
so that students can read along without constant reference to the glossaries.

I have included photos and case studies of older people.
Some of these people I have met informally or through my research. Other cases
come from insightful articles in the popular press. These additions show the
human side of aging. The case studies show the diversity of older people and
their unique circumstances. Cartoons are also included to show the lighter side
of aging.

The end of each chapter includes a summary of main points,
questions for discussion or study, suggested readings, and a glossary of terms.
These resources will direct students in their study and help in the review of
the chapters.

This book first looks at large-scale social issues—social
attitudes, the study of aging, and demographic issues. It then explores how
these conditions affect individuals and social institutions. The book concludes
with a look at political responses to aging and how individuals can create a
better old age for themselves and the people they know.

Chapters 1 and 2 introduce students to aging in the United
States and to the study of aging. Chapter 1 looks at people's attitudes toward
older people and corrects many of the myths people believe about aging. It also
looks at the origins of negativeattitudes toward older people and at ways to
change these attitudes. Chapter 2 looks at how best to study aging. It reviews
the theories and methods gerontologists use in their research.

Chapters 3 and 4 discuss the treatment of older people in
various societies and the aging of the U.S. population. Chapter 3 looks at the
issue of older people's status in societies past and present. Chapter 4 looks at
the issue of population aging in the United States, the increase in the number
and proportion of older people in the population. This is the foundation for the
chapters that follow.

Chapters 5, 6, and 7 discuss how individuals age. Chapter 5
covers the issue of biological aging and its causes and effects including the
changes that take place in personal health and illness. In Chapter 6,
psychological and developmental issues related to aging are discussed. This
chapter reviews changes in memory and intelligence and the influence of social
context on a person's well-being in later life. Chapter 7 looks at race,
ethnicity, and culture. It looks at discrimination and societal barriers to good
aging. This chapter traces many of the issues that older minority people face to
inequality throughout their lives in our society.

Chapters 8 through 14 explore current issues related to
health care, income security, retirement, housing, the family, and death and
dying. These chapters show that problems related to population aging and to
individual aging exist in all these institutions. These chapters propose
responses to some of the most serious problems caused by population aging.
Chapter 13 looks at intimacy and our relations with those we love. Chapter 14
raises questions and issues related to the treatment of older people at the end
of life, prolonging life through technology, and physician-assisted suicide.

The final two chapters, 15 and 16, provide information on
politics, social policy, and the need for education related to aging. Chapter 15
deals with the current political system and how it might address the issues
raised in earlier chapters. This chapter shows the potential and limits of
public response. Chapter 16 encourages students to learn more about aging and
discusses potential career opportunities in the field of aging.

The Journey of Adulthood, Fifth Edition
by Helen L. Bee & Barbara R. Bjorklund (Pearson Prentice Hall)
The best-selling
The Journey of Adulthooddiscusses the
aspects of “successful aging,” covering growth and development from young
adulthood to old age, and the impact that culture, gender, and individual
differences have on these processes. Its conversational and positive tone keeps
readers interested in the subject matter, as it encourages them to apply the
concepts of the book to their own lives. It presents research findings,
theories, and models from the fields of developmental psychology, social
psychology, health psychology, sociology, and others to discuss topics of
prevention, compensation, gains, and losses.

This textbook defines terms, describes
key concepts, and presents major theories of adult development; discusses health
and medicine, behavior genetics, cognitive development, social psychology,
sociology, economics, and social development in the context of adult
development, based on empirical findings from these disciplines; and covers such
topics as the growth of meaning, dealing with stress, conceptualizing the
transitions of adulthood, and confronting death. Comprehensive in scope, it
explores all aspects of the process of development – physical, cognitive,
social, personality, and spiritual development – and the biological,
psychological, or social forces or laws that may govern the changes we see among
adults.This new fifth edition features new information about

Alzheimer's disease

Anxiety and depression in adulthood

Health benefits of hormone replacement therapy

Sexuality in older adulthood

Human factors research with aging populations

Theory of mind explanations of cognitive aging

Women's work roles and retirement

An exceptionally well-balanced blend of research, theory, and
practical applications, for psychologists, sociologists, and
gerontologists,
The Journey of Adulthood, is a valuable resource for information
about the aging process

Not Your Mothers' Midlife: A Ten Step Guide To Fearless Aging by
Marilyn
Kentz, Nancy Alspaugh (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Aging ain't what it used to
be. For one thing, people are staying younger longer. For another, countless
baby boomers are rising up against the notion that with age comes worthlessness.

This gloriously
gutsy volume challenges society's worn-out perceptions that women become less
valuable as they age. Instead, authors Nancy Alspaugh and Marily Kentz celebrate
the fact that today's women can be more powerful, more efficient, more capable,
and even more desirable as they age. With chapters like Let Go of What's Not
Working, Shore Up Spiritually, and Find A New Passion,
Not Your Mothers' Midlife
contains personal growth exercises, humorous and poignant stories, and questions
and visualizations to inspire new ways of thinking. A CD is included, containing
the meditations and visualizations set to music.
Not Your Mothers' Midlife
takes the crisis out of midlife, replacing it with passion, fearlessness, and
unlimited possibilities.